CIC Name Rules: What Your CIC Can (and Cannot) Be Called

Q: Does a CIC name have to end with CIC?

Yes. By law (section 33 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004), a private CIC's name must end with 'community interest company' or 'CIC' (with or without full stops). A Welsh company may instead use 'cwmni buddiant cymunedol' or 'CBC'. Public CICs use 'community interest public limited company' or 'community interest PLC'.

Q: Can a CIC use Ltd or Limited in its name?

No. The CIC endings replace 'Limited'. A CIC is still a limited company, but its name ends with 'community interest company' or 'CIC' instead of 'Ltd'. Ordinary companies are also banned from using the CIC endings - the wording is legally protected.

Q: Can a CIC have the word charity in its name?

Only with approval. 'Charity' and 'charitable' are sensitive words, and a non-charity needs a statement of non-objection from the Charity Commission. Since a CIC legally cannot be a charity, the Commission's guidance expects the name to make clear the organisation is not a charity - in practice this is a difficult route, and most CICs avoid the word.

Q: How much does it cost to change a CIC name?

£20 online, £30 by paper, or £85 for the same-day service (Companies House fees, current as of August 2026). The change needs a special resolution (75% of members) and form NM01, and the new name must still follow all CIC name rules. The change takes effect when Companies House issues the new certificate.

Q: Does registering a CIC name protect it as a brand?

No. Company registration only stops an identical or same-as name appearing on the companies register. It gives no trade mark protection - and if your name is too similar to an existing trade mark, you may be forced to change it. Check the UK IPO trade mark register separately before committing.

Last updated: August 2026

Written by Ben Ahern, Founder of CIC Tools & Co-founder of Homeless Aid UK CIC

Quick Answer

A CIC's name must end with "community interest company" or "CIC" (with or without full stops) - never "Ltd". It must not be the same as an existing registered name, sensitive words like "charity" need approval, and the name must appear identically on every formation document or Companies House will reject the application.

Quick question before you read on

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The Required Ending (It's the Law)

Section 33 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 sets the permitted endings. There are exactly four options, depending on whether your CIC is private or public, and whether it is a Welsh company:

Company type	Name must end with
Private CIC (most CICs)	"community interest company" or "CIC" (with or without full stops)
Private CIC, Welsh company	may instead use "cwmni buddiant cymunedol" or "CBC"
Public CIC (plc)	"community interest public limited company" or "community interest PLC"
Public CIC, Welsh company	may instead use "cwmni buddiant cymunedol cyhoeddus cyfyngedig" or "cwmni buddiant cymunedol CCC"

You never add "Ltd" or "Limited". A CIC is a limited company, but the CIC ending replaces "Limited" entirely. "Sunrise Youth CIC Ltd" is wrong; "Sunrise Youth CIC" is right.
The ending can only appear at the end. Company-name regulations prohibit "community interest company" or "CIC" anywhere else in the name.
The endings are protected. An ordinary company cannot use them - so the "CIC" at the end of your name is a legally meaningful signal to funders, councils and banks.

A small trap in the official guidance

Some Companies House guidance pages currently misspell the Welsh ending as "buddaint". The statutory spelling is "buddiant" (cwmni buddiant cymunedol) - use the statute's spelling.

Is the Name Actually Available?

Your name cannot be the "same as" a name already on the companies register. The comparison ignores company-type words (Ltd, CIC, PLC and so on), "the" at the start, a trailing "s", and certain punctuation - so "Sunrise Youth CIC" is treated as the same name as "Sunrise Youth Ltd". A name that differs by only a few characters can also be challenged as "too like" an existing one within 12 months of registration.

You can check availability against the live Companies House register in seconds with our free checker on the CIC formation page - it checks your name with each CIC suffix and carries the result straight into the wizard.

A company name is not a trade mark

Registration only controls the companies register. If your name is too similar to a registered trade mark, the owner can complain - and you may have to change your name. Companies House itself advises searching the UK Intellectual Property Office trade mark register before choosing a name.

Sensitive Words That Need Approval

Some words need prior approval before Companies House will register them - and several of them are exactly the words community founders reach for:

Word	What's required
Charity / Charitable	A statement of non-objection from the Charity Commission. Since a CIC cannot legally be a charity, this is a hard route - most CICs simply avoid these words.
Foundation	Expected to be limited by guarantee with a pool of funds, and a non-profit distribution clause in the articles.
Trust	Criteria depend on the type of trust; your objects normally need to be included in the application.
Association / Federation / Society	Expected to be limited by guarantee, with one-member-one-vote and non-profit distribution clauses.
British / England / English (at the start of a name)	You must show the organisation is pre-eminent or very substantial in its field.
Royal, King, Queen, Prince, Windsor...	Non-objection from the relevant body (Cabinet Office in England and Northern Ireland).

Names suggesting a connection with the UK government, a devolved administration, a local authority or a public body also need approval. Offensive names cannot be registered at all.

The full sensitive-words list lives in Annex A of Companies House's incorporation and names guidance on gov.uk - check it before falling in love with a name.

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One Name, Everywhere - or Rejection

When you register, your name appears on the application, the CIC36 community interest statement, the articles of association and the auto-generated memorandum. The official application checklist is blunt about it: the company name must be identical on every document, including the ending, and Companies House will reject applications where it isn't. "Sunrise Youth CIC" on one document and "Sunrise Youth Community Interest Company" on another is enough to bounce the application.

This is one of the most common self-inflicted rejections - and one our online registration walkthrough shows you how to avoid.

Changing Your CIC's Name Later

Not happy with the name in a year's time? A CIC changes its name the same way as any company: a special resolution of the members (75% majority, unless your articles provide another route), then form NM01 to Companies House. Current fees (August 2026): £20 online, £30 by paper, £85 for the same-day service. The new name must follow all the rules above, and the change takes legal effect when the new certificate of incorporation is issued.

The Regulator and name changes

A plain name change runs through the ordinary Companies House process - CIC Regulator approval is required for changes to your objects and articles, and no published rule requires it for a name change alone. If your name change is part of a wider rewrite of your articles, the Regulator will be involved in that part.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a CIC name have to end with CIC?

Yes. By law, a private CIC's name must end with "community interest company" or "CIC" (with or without full stops). A Welsh company may instead use "cwmni buddiant cymunedol" or "CBC". Public CICs use "community interest public limited company" or "community interest PLC".

Can a CIC use Ltd or Limited in its name?

No. The CIC endings replace "Limited". A CIC is still a limited company, but its name ends with "community interest company" or "CIC" instead of "Ltd" - and ordinary companies are banned from using the CIC endings.

Can a CIC have the word charity in its name?

Only with a statement of non-objection from the Charity Commission - and since a CIC legally cannot be a charity, the Commission expects the name to make clear the organisation is not one. In practice, most CICs avoid the word.

How much does it cost to change a CIC name?

£20 online, £30 by paper, or £85 same-day (Companies House fees, August 2026), via a special resolution and form NM01. The change takes effect when the new certificate is issued.

Does registering a CIC name protect it as a brand?

No - company registration gives no trade mark protection. Check the UK IPO trade mark register separately, and consider registering a trade mark if the brand matters to you.

Check your CIC name in seconds

Our free checker tests your name against the live Companies House register with each CIC ending - then carries it straight into the formation wizard, where every document gets the name exactly right, everywhere it appears.

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